Description du projet
La biopsie et la chirurgie entraînent-elles des métastases?
Le diagnostic et le traitement du cancer impliquent souvent une biopsie et/ou une ablation chirurgicale de la tumeur primaire entraînant une lésion des tissus. La métastase, la principale cause de décès liés au cancer, est souvent initiée par des cellules individuelles amenées depuis la tumeur primaire dans la circulation sanguine. Ce projet financé par l’UE examinera si les lésions initiales du tissu contribuent considérablement à la propagation par le sang des cellules tumorales engendrant la formation des métastases. La recherche s’intéressera au cancer du sein et au cancer de la prostate. Elle examinera l’impact de la libération de cellules cancéreuses en circulation après la biopsie ou l’intervention chirurgicale, et appliquera de nouvelles technologies pour saisir des cellules en circulation afin de comprendre leur analyse fonctionnelle. En outre, ils évalueront des stratégies thérapeutiques pour prévenir la diffusion de cellules cancéreuses viables vers des sites éloignés.
Objectif
Background: Blood-borne metastasis of malignant cells from the primary lesion to distant organs is the major cause of cancer-related death. Most cancer patients face tissue injury at initial diagnosis when tumor tissue is obtained by biopsies to secure the diagnosis of cancer and at primary surgery required to remove the primary tumor.
Objectives: We will evaluate whether tissue injury contributes to a significant blood-borne dissemination of viable tumor cells, which is one of the most under-investigated areas in cancer research. We will focus on the two most frequent malignancies in women (breast cancer) and men (prostate cancer) that occur in the in European Union with incidence rates of 139.5 and 139.0 cases per 100,000, respectively. The current project will study the extent of the release of tumor cells into the blood circulation after needle tissue biopsies and primary surgery, the characteristics of the released tumor cells and the contribution of this release to cancer progression. Moreover, we will assess therapeutic strategies to block extravasation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to distant sites. As experimental approach, we will apply novel technologies for capturing CTCs and for determining their molecular characteristics in cancer patients as well as experimental models that are able to determine the functional properties of CTCs.
Impact: The results will have an important impact on medical practice. If biopsies would contribute to tumor progression, it might be a strong driving force for the development of better imaging modalities or “liquid biopsy” assays of peripheral blood that can diagnose cancer through the detection of CTCs or tumor cell products such as circulating nucleic acids (DNA, microRNA), exosomes or tumor-educated platelets. Moreover, short-term pharmacologic inhibition of extravasation might be able to prevent the extravasation of injury-released CTCs and reduce the risk of metastasis.
Champ scientifique
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologyprostate cancer
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesnucleic acids
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgery
- natural sciencesbiological sciencescell biology
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologybreast cancer
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitution d’accueil
20251 Hamburg
Allemagne